Kingdom of Italy/CtW Information
CtW objectives *Until the Atomic Era, maintain control over your home territories of: North Italian Plain; Latium; Sardinia; Naples and Sicily. *Until the Atomic Era, control the following territories: Eritrea; Sudan; Somalia; Ethiopia; Marmara Coast *Until the Atomic Era, control the following regions: North Africa; Mediterranean. *Outlive France. Notes *Initial difficulty: Rather challenging *Number of capitals: 1 (Rome) *Number of armies: 1 *Initial resources: 20 tribute *AI personality: Devious, implacable Italy is available for play in the Powermongers and Domination campaigns. Powermongers CtW The one problem about Italy is that it is set to tread on a lot of toes - Britain, Spain, Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, and last but not least France. Aside from controlling all Mediterranean and Northern African territories, Italy also has to capture several parts of Eastern Europe while looking after its own as well as finding a means of doing in France somehow. This will not be easy, and the fact that France and Britain have a rather cozy relationship means that any Italian attempts to destroy France will not go well with the British. Further, Italy is also low on oil/supply, meaning that the odds of wining are very stacked against you. So in order to win the game, what can be done? there are several alternatives. The first is to align yourself with another greater power. Although your task is to do in France, there is nothing to stop you from allying with the French - or even Germany, Italy's historical partner following the conquest of Abyssinia. Alternatively, you can try to influence the many powers of Europe, although it must be said that it would be a very messy job. Domination CtW Like Germany Italy has only 1 army, but it has the benefit of having colonies in Africa which can be used to boost industrial production, and also has some standing, so there are several ways to play with Italy - you can either take the historic route of allying with Germany to pick off France and southeastern Europe, or you can choose to delay your war and go about by purchasing land from Britain and France before attacking. Note however that in the process of buying territory, it is all a sellers' market so be prepared to lose plenty of tribute in acquiring new areas. Ideally, Siam, Nejd and Northern Borneo should be obtained from Britain, however, this will place you in the firing line should Japan go on the warpath southwards. Britain is the only faction possible with which you can buy territory from, although it must be noted only territories not connected to Britain's historic Dominions or Crown Colonies such as Penang and Singapore may be purchased. Alternatively, the states to your east can be made into satellite states but they will not be easy to come by - each of them have different territorial aspirations (for instance, Greece and Turkey both covet British Nicosia, while Romania tends to keep to itself). Given these issues, it might be best for Italy to use Germany to keep France and Britain at bay, while picking off whatever is required in the Mediterranean for its use. Hungary and Romania can and should be turned into client states as quickly as possible as well, although it is most likely that Germany will beat you to them in the long run. In summary, #Try and broker an alliance with France or Germany as soon as possible. #If you need foreign colonies but do not want to wage war, you can purchase Siam, Nejd and Northern Borneo from Britain. #Eastern Europe, especially Hungary and Romania, can be inducted into satellite state status - the trick is getting the right deal for them. Age of Darkness CtW In the Age of Darkness CtW, Italy is depicted as an ally of Germany, and is extremely belligerent. Italy will accept no alliances with any allies of the Allied nations - Britain and France - and will aggressively attempt to expand as much as it can by attacking smaller nations around it. If you are playing as Britain, you must be wary of the two-headed hydra which are the Axis powers: while Germany will attempt to drive you out of Scandinavia, Italy will sooner or later attack your positions in the Mediterranean, preventing you from manually moving your armies across Africa. Festung Europa CtW In the Festung Europa CtW, Italy is a vassal state of Nazi Germany, and can be liberated by either the Soviets or the USA, if they so happen to be able to overrun southern Europe. Territories covered Local *Rome *Milan *Turin *Napoli *Cagliari Overseas *Tripoli *Benghazi *Eritrea Leaders Italy has four leaders, starting off with Benito Mussolini. *With an Allied administration, Ivanoe Bonomi; Alcide de Gasperi (what triggers?) *Under Communist occupation, Vittorio Vidali; Palmiro Togliatti (when?) *With a coup by Axis forces, Rodolfo Graziani